Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of clinching the 2018 F1 Drivers’ Championship were dashed today when he was disqualified from pole position in qualifying for Sao Paulo.
Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after crashing into Max Verstappen. The FIA fined Max Verstappen 50,000 euros for causing the crash.
With four races remaining, Lewis Hamilton sits 19 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
With four races remaining, Lewis Hamilton sits 19 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.For a technical infraction on his Mercedes vehicle, Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
After securing pole position for Saturday’s’sprint,’ his Mercedes’ rear wing was determined to be in violation of the regulations.
As a result, Hamilton will start last in the’sprint,’ with championship contender Max Verstappen on pole.
Verstappen was penalized 50,000 euros in a separate ruling for touching Hamilton’s vehicle after qualifying.
This fine is worth £42,700.
As the season approaches its conclusion, the decision to penalize Hamilton might be a big setback for his championship ambitions.
With four races remaining and a maximum of 107 points left, Hamilton trails Verstappen by 19 points in the World Championship.
After Mercedes installed a new engine to his vehicle, the Briton gets a five-place grid penalty for the major grand prix. It was his fifth of the season, with a maximum of three permitted.
Verstappen can win his first world championship by finishing second behind Hamilton in all three remaining races if he gets at least five points more than Hamilton this weekend.
The’sprint,’ a short race approximately a third the length of a grand prix, determines the starting grid for Sunday’s major event and provides a limited amount of points to the top three finishers.
Three points are awarded to the sprint winner, two to the runner-up, and one to the third place finisher.
What was the problem with Hamilton’s vehicle?
After setting a best lap that was 0.438 seconds faster than Verstappen in Friday’s qualifying session, Hamilton’s vehicle was reported to the stewards.
The decision was made after Red Bull filed a protest with the FIA concerning Hamilton’s rear wing.
When the DRS overtaking assistance was used, officials discovered that the wing did not comply with the regulations regulating the maximum separation between its two parts.
The DRS raises the top flap of the rear wing on certain stages of the lap, reducing drag and increasing straight-line speed.
The gap was found to be wider at the wing’s outer parts than the maximum allowed distance of 85mm.
The stewards stated they were “confident that the design fulfills the purpose of the regulation” and that there was “no doubt… of any intent to exceed the maximum size either by action or design.” Mercedes claimed that the design was designed to comply with the regulations, and the stewards agreed.
The extra distance was clearly caused by increased play in either the DRS activator or pivots, according to the stewards, “or any combination or other defect with the system or poor assembly of components.”
The stewards accepted Mercedes’ explanation that “something [had] gone wrong,” but determined that Hamilton was disqualified because the components did not meet the criteria.
What was the reason behind Verstappen’s punishment?
After qualifying, Verstappen walked over to Hamilton’s vehicle to inspect it after the two had pulled up in what is known as parc ferme because Red Bull had concerns about the Mercedes’ rear wing.
“There was negligible force when Verstappen hit the wing,” the stewards stated.
They also said that Verstappen’s actions had “no influence” on Hamilton’s wing issue.
The stewards agreed that “touching vehicles after qualifying and races had become a habit of drivers,” as Verstappen had pointed out.
“This broad trend has been perceived as generally innocuous and hence has not been routinely policed,” they stated.
“However, it is a violation of the parc ferme law and has the potential to inflict considerable injury.”
The stewards went on to say that future such offenses “may result in different punishments.”
The “Sao Paulo Grand Prix” is a race that takes place annually in Brazil. The 2021 edition of the race will be held on November 3rd-5th. Reference: sao paulo grand prix 2021.
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